Brunswick to Point of Rocks

August 20, 2016

This weekend a group of 6 of us met at the Brunswick boat ramp for a float down the Potomac to Point of Rocks, MD.

We started just before noon, paddled up river from the Brunswick boat ramp until we got tired and then paddled about 7 miles down river to Point of Rocks (MD side; there is a POR VA side too).  It took us a little less than 4.5 hours with lots of stops.

The river was very crowded, more so than usual.  We passed a large group of tubers who ended at Lander's Lock as we kept going to Point of Rocks.

We saw a bald eagle swoop down to grab a fish.  We also saw some danger noodles (aka - snakes).  Perfect weather day.

Brunswick, MD to Lander's Lock Potomac River

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Today we met a group of friends in Brunswick, MD for a paddle from the Brunswick boat ramp to Lander Boat Ramp.  There were 8 of us in kayaks and 1 on a stand-up paddle board.  This was the first time we attempted (with success!) to get 2 kayaks on the top of my MINI Cooper.  No more driving separately for each trip!  The river was medium high, didn't encounter too many places with low water on the route. 

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We started out a little rocky with one person falling in immediately as she launched and another requiring first aid after a gash on the leg as we were preparing to enter.  After 6 years of kayaking I finally got to use my first-aid kit for the first time!

The trip itself is relatively short, we started around 9:45/10:00 and were off the river shortly after 2:00.  This is with very little paddling, lots of stops and hanging out along the way.  We fooled around quite a bit at each of our stops.  A dog even came out of the woods at one of the stops to say hello.

The river wasn't too crowded this day, there was some light traffic but overall we felt we had the river to ourselves.  As we came up to the boat ramp at the end, we weren't quite ready to get out so we hung out on the rocks in the middle of the river.  Good spot to sit in the river and let the water rush over you.

I like this trip but it is short.  We were somewhat limited in time as we had to rush to the airport afterwards but you can continue downriver to the Point of Rocks boat ramp or the mouth of the Monocacy for a longer paddle.

I also have recently installed the Sports Tracker app on my phone that allows you to track distance, speed, etc. but of course forgot to start it up when we started our paddle.  Will try to use it this weekend.